All About Mulch

Since your lawn is beginning to take form you should begin to think about accent pieces. These can be anything including:

Flowers
Trees
Hedges
Sculptures
Structures
Rocks
Fences
Mulch
Seating
Other types of landscaping

There are many ways to decorate your lawn. Many people usually start out small and add more pieces as their lawn grows. You can start with simple landscaping and add unique touches as you go along. Having this much freedom can be overwhelming at first, but you will find that balance between nature and style.

If you are still finding lawn decoration overwhelming, stick to these eight categories as they include all of the above and much more:

Mulch
Flower beds
Rock gardens
Trees
Fencing
Lawn sculptures
Structures
Landscaping

These categories are interchangeable and you can include a little of each in your lawn. Enjoy!

MULCH

Mulch can be made from organic materials made from your own lawn or you can buy mulch from your local home gardening store. There are a few types of mulch to choose from:

Moist mulches
Dry wood mulches (wood chips)
Stone mulches

While you should be using mulch to feed your plants, it can also be used for decorative purposes.

Moist Mulches

When using mulch, you should try to use the same kind on your entire lawn in order to keep the color scheme the same. Moist mulch will decompose over time. You will have to replace it every few months. This is the best mulch to use as it not only looks good, it will retain water and will also feed your plants and flowers.

Moist mulches can be made from:

Leaves
Plants
Wood

Moist mulch is very dense so that you will not have to use too much. Spread an even layer over the area you want to cover. Do not pack the mulch, just lay it loosely on top of the soil or landscape fabric.

Dry Wood Mulches (Wood Chips)

Dry wood mulches are made from small branches, bark, and other small pieces of wood.

This mulch will not decompose as quickly as moist mulch, but you should plan on replenishing the mulch every few months as rain and watering can cause the wood to become moldy.

Many people favor this mulch when they are decorating their lawns.

Stone Mulches

Stone mulches do not decompose and are relatively easy to clean. Watering will help keep dirt and other debris from sticking to the stone. Using a contrasting stone color will help the trees and plants on your lawn stand out.

Stone mulches are more expensive than other mulches and do not have any nutrients in them for maintaining healthy soil. You should save this mulch for trees and other plants that do not require as much water during the spring and summer seasons.

Since stone mulch retains more heat than the other types of mulches, you should not use this type of mulch on plants that are small and not as hearty as they could die from overheating. Use stone mulches on drought resistant plants.

Terry Blackburn. Internet Marketing Consultant, living in South Shields in the North-East of England. Author and Producer of blog http://www.lawnsurgeon.blogspot.com Author of "Your Perfect Lawn," a 90 Page eBook devoted to Lawn Preparation, Lawn Care and Maintenance. Find it at http://www.lawnsurgeon.com

I would be very interested to have your comments on this Article.

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